Will Kim Jong-Un Be Worse Than His Father?

On December 19, 2011, Kim Jong-Il, the former “dear leader” of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (a.k.a. North Korea), known for his infamous songun or “military first” policies, died of a heart attack.

Shortly following his passing, his son, Kim Jong-un, was declared the country’s next leader. At the time, the international community knew very little of Kim Jong-un due to North Korea’s traditionally secretive and isolationist tendencies, and speculated about implications for the historic tensions between North and South Korea and South Korea’s long-time ally, the U.S.

Implications for the U.S. are increasingly apparent. North Korea has long expressed hostility towards the U.S., declaring South Korea a mere American puppet; however, we must ask ourselves, what does the increasingly militant regime and the expansion of political prison camps mean for the more than 24 million people living in North Korea? For one, with the recent nuclear test, there is no doubt that a significant amount of money is being pumped into North Korea’s nuclear and military programs. While North Korean scientists are spending a ridiculous amount of money perfecting the nuclear bomb, North Korean children are suffering from malnutrition. The existence and continued expansion of the aforementioned political prison camps highlights the human rights abuses committed by the North Korean government. Those fortunate to have escaped from North Korean the camps, compare the brutality of these prisons to the Soviet Union’s gulag during the Cold War and the Holocaust’s concentration camps. The camps are undoubtedly being expanded to accommodate a crackdown on defections.

Despite North Korea’s willingness to entertain a few prominent Americans, the government expresses a continuous defiance towards the international community that no amount of basketball and meet-and-greats can alleviate. Furthermore, the country’s constant dissent towards the U.S. and its neighbor to the South is only one angle to the government’s hostility. The regimes under Kim Jong-Il and now Kim Jong-un continue to violate basic human rights within its own borders.